1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium and an imaging cartridge that is attached to or detached from the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus prints an image on a recording medium by supplying toner onto an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor to form a visible toner image on the photoreceptor, transferring the visible toner image onto the recording medium, and fusing the transferred visible toner image on the recording medium.
A process cartridge is an assembly of components for forming a visible toner image. The process cartridge is a consumable product that is detachable from a main body of an image forming apparatus and replaced after the lifespan thereof has ended. The process cartridge may have various structures such as a structure in which a photoreceptor, a development roller that supplies toner to the photoreceptor, and a container portion containing toner are integrally formed, a structure divided into an imaging cartridge including a photoreceptor and a development roller and a toner cartridge containing toner, or a structure divided into a photoreceptor cartridge including a photoreceptor, a development cartridge including a development roller, and a toner cartridge containing toner.
Regarding the process cartridge including the imaging cartridge and the toner cartridge, the imaging cartridge has a structure in which a photoconductive unit including a photoreceptor and a development unit including a development roller are connected to each other. In this case, in order to obtain a uniform image quality, a distance between the photoreceptor and the development roller has to be stably maintained.